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Boat-billed Heron

Boat-billed Heron

Cochlearius cochlearius

Migration Flyway

Showing primary migration corridor(s) for this species

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBirdWikipedia

About the Boat-billed Heron

The boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius), colloquially known as the boatbill, is an atypical member of the heron family. It is the only member of the genus Cochlearius and was formerly placed in a monotypic family, the Cochleariidae. It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying two to four bluish-white eggs in a twig nest.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name
Cochlearius cochlearius
Family
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Order
Pelecaniformes

Similar species

Other members of the herons, egrets, and bitterns family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

  • Agami Heron Agamia agami
  • American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus
  • Bare-throated Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma mexicanum
  • Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
  • Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes
  • Chinese Pond-Heron Ardeola bacchus
  • Eastern Cattle-Egret Ardea coromanda
  • Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris
  • Gray Heron Ardea cinerea
  • Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
  • Great Egret Ardea alba
  • Green Heron Butorides virescens

Know when the Boat-billed Heron turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

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Gear for spotting Boat-billed Heron

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